Is he going to pull the same stunt on us again?

De Jong surprised everyone at Roland with some insane matches, and he’s starting the same way here.

A win over Hijikata, who's actually good on grass and in good form, De Jong really knows how to make an entrance and has just pulled off a great 4.5-hour victory spread over two days because of the interruption. I don’t think it’s too much of an issue for him to have to play again tomorrow; we saw at Roland that he can string together tough matches and keep producing great tennis. I had some doubts about his ability to adapt, but it’s now clear that grass can suit him. Tomorrow’s match will be at an even higher level, but De Jong is playing good tennis at the moment and loves big challenges; he fights hard before often ending up losing, let’s say…

Fonseca didn’t lose a set in his first-round match, but it wasn’t an easy one for him against the very experienced Agut, who once again battled hard before dropping in intensity at the end. I’m not really convinced by his level of play, though; he was terrible in Halle and then withdrew because of a minor injury, so maybe he needs some time, but the overall impression is pretty average.

We know he’s capable of playing good, aggressive tennis with huge intensity, but also with big dips and high-risk tennis. De Jong should get his chances, especially if he keeps playing like this; in my opinion, he’s the one we should be looking at…